‘Topping-Off’ Ceremony at UTD to Honor
Human Resource Teams from Local Businesses

$40-Million School Of Engineering &
Computer Science
Expansion Is Targeted for Completion Next Summer

RICHARDSON, Texas (Oct. 15, 2001) - Officials of the Erik Jonsson
School of Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Texas at
Dallas (UTD) will pay tribute to local human resource representatives
and commemorate an important construction milestone Oct. 25 when workers
hoist the final steelwork on the school’s new 152,000 square-foot
building, which is expected to be completed next summer.

To observe the “topping-off” of the building, students, faculty
and staff will attend a noon ceremony designed to pay tribute to scores
of human resource representatives from companies in Richardson’s
Telecom Corridor for their continuing support of the university. There
are more than 900 high-tech companies within a five-mile radius of the
UTD campus, and many of them have backed UTD with monetary donations,
involvement in cooperative work programs and internships, research
collaborations and, of course, by hiring UTD graduates and sending their
employees to UTD for advanced education.

“We have had tremendous support from the local business community,
and we work very closely each year with members of the various human
resources departments, trying to fulfill their needs for highly
qualified employees and trying to place our graduates in good positions
with strong potential. These HR professionals are our partners in many
ways, even in these tough economic times, and we wanted to use this
occasion to thank them for their support and to pay tribute to them,”
said Jonsson School Dean William P. Osborne.

The brief ceremony at the construction site will feature remarks by
Osborne and Ken Meyers, vice president of human resources at Ericsson,
and will be followed by a luncheon reception.

The expansion to UTD’s highly acclaimed Erik Jonsson School of
Engineering and Computer Science, made possible in part by private
contributions from several key North Texas donors, will nearly double
the capacity for engineering students at the school to 6,000. The
school, named for the late Dallas mayor and co-founder of both Texas
Instruments and the research institute that in 1969 became UTD, provides
programs in electrical and software engineering, awards more computer
science degrees than any other university in Texas and was the first
school in the country to offer a degree in telecommunications
engineering.

Osborne said the “topping off” of the three-story new building
signifies an important milestone in the school’s expansion and that
the addition would enable the school and the university “to help
satisfy the requirements of Texas Senate Bill 353, which the Legislature
recently passed into law, to attract more high-quality students and, in
turn, to produce more high-quality graduates to work in both the public
and private sectors in Texas.”

Senate Bill 353 was designed to address the growing shortage of
high-tech workers in Texas by increasing the number of electrical
engineering and computer science graduates from Texas universities.
Under the bill, the state commits up to $5 million annually, to match $5
million raised annually from the technology industry and other private
sector sources, to increase the pool of high-tech workers.

The $40-million building will be architecturally compatible with the
existing engineering facility and will contain state-of-the-art
classrooms and equipment. The first floor will house a student services
center, a 150-seat computer lab, classrooms and an auditorium. Upper
floors will contain offices and labs.

The “topping-off” ceremony dates back to the 8th or 9th century.
In medieval times, ironworkers would celebrate the completion of a
building’s frame by placing a fir tree on top of the final beam. The
practice was brought to America and today often incorporates the
autographing of the final beam by those involved with the construction
process.

About UTD

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of
Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major
multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor ®,
enrolls more than 7,000 undergraduate and 5,000 graduate students. The
school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas
state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers
a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree
programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the
university’s Web site at www.utdallas.edu.